Don't fall for it. Run as fast as you can - Sales Trainee Graybar Employee Review

1.0
7 Sept 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Sales Reps and CSR's at my branch were friendly and helpful.

Cons

Everything else. imaginable. Salary is TERRIBLE. Way below average for this industry, and for the amount of work and stress this job requires Management across the whole company from the branch level to the top is an unmitigated disaster. Management is pretty much all 60+ and absolutely opposed to any sort of change, but yet they wonder why they have no new talent working in the company. I took the sales trainee position fresh out of college, and the "trainee" part of the description was an absolute joke. The only thing that resembles "training" is them sitting you in front of a computer on Graybar Pathways for hours on in watching horribly animated training videos probably circa 2005. After you finish your "training" you are then cast into a CSR desk with no direction or instructions whatsoever and expected to preform. Whenever a mistake was made (and there were a lot due to learning the functions of the job and SAP with little to no help) my manager would tear into and belittle me (or another unfortunate employee that made a mistake) in the middle of the office in front of the whole branch. Also the overall maintenance and condition of the building I was in was absolutely appealing. Building was infested with roaches and rodents which would quite often die in the ceiling or walls and smell up the branch, even to the point were customers that came to the counter would notice it and complain about it. Tobacco use in the workplace was prevalent and employees would leave dip spitters on there desk and they would sit there for weeks on end. Lastly, stock was lackluster and did not accurately represent our market, and the logistics of the company are super inefficient. Many items that were sold at our branch would never be stocked and would have to be pulled from distant zones or branches. However, the company would dump money into stock that would never sell and fill up valuable warehouse space.

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Graybar Response
5y
I’m sorry you did not enjoy your experience at Graybar and we take these comments very seriously. We strive to create a working environment that is safe, clean, comfortable, and conducive to collaboration and learning. We would like to learn more about your experience and concerns and ask that you please email glassdoor@graybar.com. Thank you.

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Pros

Strong department leadership in current role

Cons

Many senior team members with decades of stored brain knowledge that is hard to share

3.0
6 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Many opportunities to learn about distribution and management. Pto is three weeks per year plus holidays and over a s Week of sick time. If you work here longer, you can buy enough company shares to receive a sizeable dividend each year. You are allowed to buy about 5% of your salary in company shares per year and then receive usually 20% of that back per year. The profit sharing plan contributes 10% of your salary to your 401k account but you need to be vested to keep it all.

Cons

You will need a second job to live. Sales reps make way more and do half the work but they report to their managers much more. If you are a CSR, sales people feel entitled to treat you however they want and their manager will back them up. You are watched by coworkers and management like a high surveillance prison especially when you're new but they will leave you alone if you're good at your job after a year or so. Graybar brags about how much revenue and profit they make but middle and upper management suck it all up leaving scraps for the workers who made it for them.

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